Student athletes are starting to gear up for the fall sports season. But before a single down can be played or a tackle made, the state requires all high school athletes to get a physical.

But are those "assembly line" physicals at schools and clinics really making sure your child is healthy enough to play?

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Sports physicals can play a crucial role in making sure every student athlete can safely play his or her sport. But WLWT spoke with Children’s Hospital doctors who said visiting a pediatrician really can be a game changer.

“They have to have all of those papers day one before they step on the field. They have to be in our coaches’ hands and our trainers' hands,” Turpin High School athletic director Eric Fry said.

The six-page statewide document gathers all kinds of important health information, not just about the athlete. Extensive family history is also gathered in order to make sure athletes are fit to play.

Physicals also allow the training staff to be prepared.

“Oh, most definitely. I mean, if you just watch a football practice, it is demanding on our kids,” Anderson High School athletic director Chris Newton said.

“If they have asthma, we have an inhaler on the field all of the time. If they have allergies to bee stings, that we have an EpiPen on the field,” said head athletic trainer April Gutbier, of Wellington Orthopedics and Sport Medicine, partner of Mercy Health.

Pediatric doctor Denise Warrick realizes students can get physicals signed by any doctor, but said going to your pediatrician is your best bet.

“We want to make sure we are assessing the whole child and we're not just focusing on the sports. So oftentimes if they're going to a clinic visit they're missing those past history items or those family history items that had already been identified by their primary care doctor,” Warrick said.

Annual physicals like that caught a potentially deadly condition for a junior athlete.

“We currently have a situation right now where we had an athlete with a heart condition that showed up from his physical screening. Now they don't know the extent of it, but he is being held out of football practice right now,” Fry said.

Doctors say ultimately they want to clear students for play, but physicals are a critical part of the game.

“Because ultimately we really believe in physical activity, we think it's a wonderful thing. It helps them to get that regular exercise that we recommend as well,” Warrick said.

Pediatricians say insurance typically covers one physical per year, and most doctors will sign off on the paperwork if your child had a recent well-visit checkup.

Sports physicals are only good for one year, so athletes will have to check in regularly with their doctors to stay in the game.